The Good and Bad of Summer 2017 (So Far): Atlantic Division

This is one part of a four-part, division-by-division series looking at the moves made by each team this offseason and what they still have left to do before the season begins.

The Panthers and Sabres are moving in a new direction again, the Lightning dealt with some housekeeping that should allow them to rebound next season, the Red Wings seem to be trying to prolong the inevitable, the Leafs added veteran leadership to their exciting young squad, the Bruins and Senators stayed completely still, and the Habs had another whirlwind of a summer.

***Note: This article is posted across all Nation Network team sites so comments are an open forum.***

The Bruins had a pretty successful season in 2016-17. They had the league’s best possession stats, finished third in the Atlantic Division, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14. But they did nothing this summer ti build on it.

The only signings the Bruins have made are minor ones, adding Kenny Agastino and Paul Postma to one-year deals. They bought out Jimmy Hayes, who had a miserable five-point season last year, and they lost Colin Miller in the expansion draft. Otherwise, the Bruins will go into 2017-18 with a similar roster to last year’s group, with young players like Charlie McAvoy, Jakub Zboril, and Anders Bjork ideally filling into the lineup and making an impact.

Boston’s offseason isn’t finished yet, though. It’s unlikely they’ll add, as the Bruins actively want to have space on their roster for young players to shine through, but the team needs to get David Pastrnak signed to a new contract. He enjoyed a breakout season last year playing on one of the league’s best lines alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, picking up 34 goals and 36 assists in 75 games. You’d think the Bruins want to get Pastrnak, one of the better young forwards in the game, locked up to a long-term deal, but they could instead look to offer him a bridge contract instead.

The Sabres 2016-17 season was nothing short of a disaster. It was so bad, in fact, that it got both general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma fired. The team’s rebuild has been massively disappointing so far, and the Sabres ownership pressed the reset button. Phil Housley is set to take over as the team’s coach while Jason Botterill was hired as the general manager.

In Botterill’s first summer, he pulled off a savvy deal to acquire solid defenceman Marco Scandella from the Wild by taking advantage of Minnesota’s ugly cap situation. He also sent a draft pick to Montreal for Nathan Beaulieu, who ended up on the outside of the Habs crowded blueline. There’s still a lot of work to be done here, but’s a step in the right direction for Buffalo, a team who’s consistently had one of the worst defensive crops in the league in recent years.

The team still needs to figure out what’s going on with Zemgus Girgensons. Last summer, Girgensons held out until Sept. 1 waiting for a long-term deal, but ultimately agreed to a one-year show me contract. He didn’t show very much. There was once a point in which the former first round draft pick was heralded as the team’s second line, two-way beast down the middle of the future, but after back-to-back seasons with fewer than 20 points, it’s getting hard to see Girgensons as an impact player.

The Red Wings handed out another bad contract this summer. What else is new in Detroit?

After missing the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century, the Wings seem to be caught in purgatory. They obviously want to retool and quickly aim to be competitive again, but this fall from grace has been a long time coming, and turning the ship around seems virtually impossible.

They have a wealth of terrible, immovable contracts, and have virtually zero room to add to the roster because of it. Their major move this summer was adding Trevor Daley to a three-year contract, and while it isn’t necessarily terrible like I flippantly mentioned earlier, it’s yet another contract with a no trade clause — they have 10 of those now — to a player on the wrong side of 30.

The Wings got Tomas Tatar signed to a reasonable four-year contract, but still need to sign Andreas Athanasiou, who’s coming off of his entry-level contract. Next summer, they’ll need to give Dylan Larkin Petr Mrazek, and Anthony Mantha new deals, but there isn’t much money to go around as Mike Green’s $6 million cap hit is the only major contract coming off the shelf.

I think it’s safe to say that the analytics renaissance in Florida has come to an end. The team had a rough season last year — they were decimated by injuries, came up well short of the playoffs, and dealt with multiple PR disasters — and they seem to be moving in a different direction again this summer.

Dale Tallon has stepped back in as the team’s general manager, Tom Rowe has been moved to some kind of role as an advisor, Bob Boughner was hired to be the head coach, and former players Chris Pronger and Shawn Thornton were both given front office jobs.

In terms of the actual roster, the Panthers let Jonathan Marchessault, one of those analytics wins from last season, go in the expansion draft in order to also dump Rielly Smith’s contract on the Golden Knights. They bought out veteran Jussi Jokinen and replaced him with Radim Vrbata, signed KHL star Evgeny Dadonov to a three-year deal, and are parting ways with the legendary Jaromir Jagr. The signing that most accurately represents the team’s shift back to traditional hockey was the two-year deal that was given to Michael Haley, who, according to Tallon, will bring toughness and grit back to the roster.

The Panthers aren’t a better team than they were last year, but they also weren’t as bad as they showed last season either. With better injury luck, this team can enjoy a rebound season.

It was another weird summer for Marc Bergevin. After shocking the hockey world by swapping P.K. Subban for Shea Weber last June, Bergevin has completely overhauled the Habs roster, signing shutdown guy Karl Alzner, trading for Jonathan Drouin, and letting Alex Radulov and Andrei Markov walk in free agency. Despite all of the moves and signings, the Habs still don’t have that top centre they so desperately covet.

Stepping away from roster changes, the Habs got Carey Price, Alex Galchenyuk, and the newly-acquired Drouin locked up to new contracts. Price’s extension isn’t good, it isn’t bad, it was just inevitable. He’s going to be paid $10.5 million annually for eight years starting in 2018-19, which is a little sketchy considering Price is going to be 30 in August and has struggled with injuries. But what are you going to do? He’s the most valuable player on the team, arguably the best goaltender in the NHL, and the team’s success largely hinges on him. It’s just going to be a challenge to navigate through Price and Shea Weber’s contracts when both are into their late 30s making a combined $18 million.

Overall, this was a very puzzling offseason. It’s hard to see what Bergevin’s end game is. The team didn’t really get better despite making a flurry of moves, but they’re still good enough to be competitive in the Eastern Conference. Losing Markov and Subban over two summers has completely gutted the offence from the blueline, and while Drouin is a very good player who will likely be revered in Montreal, using Mikhail Sergachev and not getting a top centre back is disappointing.

The Senators shocked everybody this spring and came one win from reaching the Stanley Cup Final. That’s not bad for a team that wasn’t supposed to make the playoffs.

But they haven’t done anything this summer to build on it. The two most notable additions the Sens made were Nate Thompson and Johnny Oduya, who are essentially replacing long-time veterans Marc Methot and Chris Neil. The Methot saga was a little puzzling. He’s been a very solid wingman next to Erik Karlsson for quite some time, yet the Sens didn’t do anything to sway Vegas from not taking him like many other teams did at very reasonable prices. In the end, he was dealt to Dallas for a random prospect and a second round pick in 2020.

They signed Mike Condon to a three-year deal, which is pretty heavy for a backup, and rewarded Ryan Dzingel and J-G Pageau’s excellent seasons with multi-year raises. But otherwise? It was a quiet summer in Ottawa. The team’s run this year was very improbable, and without any improvement to the roster this summer, it’s unlikely we’ll see something like that again.

If I had told you a couple of years ago the Tampa Bay Lightning would have Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov all locked up together, you wouldn’t have believed me. But they do.

Last summer, they got Stamkos and Hedman signed, and this summer, Steve Yzerman handed out long-term deals to Johnson and Palat, ensuring that this core of players will be together for at least the next five seasons. The one curious thing, though, is that they didn’t get Kucherov, who could be the best of those forwards, signed long-term. Instead, Kucherov is on a bridge deal for two more seasons and will be seeking a massive raise come 2019. Jonathan Drouin ended up being the odd man out of that cluster, but the Lightning turned him into a young, cheap, controllable asset at a position of need.

Yzerman also pulled the trigger on a good deal to dump Jason Garrison on the Golden Knights in exchange for Nikita Gusev’s rights and a couple of draft picks, but then he turned around and spent the savings on Dan Girardi and Chris Kunitz. The Kunitz signing is fine, as it adds solid, veteran depth to the team’s top-six and it’s only one year. But the three-year contract given to Girardi, who was bought out by the Rangers earlier this summer due to his play completely deteriorating, is very strange.

The Lightning didn’t get better this summer, but they’re primed for a rebound from their disappointing 2016-17 season. Despite being legitimate Cup contenders, Tampa missed the playoffs thanks largely to injury and poor play from goaltender Ben Bishop, but they’re a reasonable bet to climb back up to the top of the Atlantic Division in spite of this summer’s losses.

The Leafs enjoyed a somewhat-earlier-than-expected breakout season in 2016-17, and they’ll look to build on it with largely the same group heading into 2017-18.

The Leafs made a few additions, the biggest, of course, being Patrick Marleau’s three-year contract to slot into the top six and give the team even more offensive firepower. There’s a chance that contract could be bad by the third year, but the front office has shown an uncanny ability to navigate around the salary cap in the past.

Matt Hunwick and Brian Boyle went out the door, but they were replaced by Ron Hainsey and Dominic Moore, who were given cheaper, shorter deals than the players they’re replacing. They lost Brendan Leipsic in the expansion draft, sparking a little bit of outrage that the team chose to protect Matt Martin instead of the young, skilled forward, but nobody critical to the team’s success was lost this offseason.

Work isn’t finished yet, as the Leafs need to sign Connor Brown to a post-ELC contract. Brown had a solid rookie season, posting 36 points in 82 games, and shouldn’t be difficult to sign. They gave Zach Hyman a four-year contract and it seems Brown could get something similar. Next summer will be interesting, though, as William Nylander’s entry-level deal ends and both Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews will be eligible for extensions.

That would be what it would cost for sure maybe more. The Hab’s don’t have the cap space for that right now. I for one would gladly take the the 4 -1st round picks. The Hab’s are not that stupid though.

That could be a risky game, say he has an off year, how movable is his contract then without eating a few million dollars per year…or taking a lesser return? I hope the OIL get Drai signed, but an offer sheet from the Habs would hurt. And close to $10 million per year is preposterous for this player with such a short track record.

The more I think about it the more an offersheet makes sense for the Habs; they are in win-now mode, but they desperately need a 1C.
They have the picks and can open up cap space.
I’m not so sure the Oilers would match; next year would be the start of cap hell for them….
A match and trade is super risky, probably better off taking the picks.

Win now mode flames were in that mode last season take away the start of the year and guess who has more wins .even straight up Soilers won 2 more games .now flames are even. We’re Soilers are worse lost a top 6 forward and your sekera hurt . Flames will dominate pretty sure we won’t be putting wideman grossman ellglend on the ice this year lol .we got Tkachuk a real hockey player not some boring perimeter ladies that Soilers like to draft . Better hope talbot stands on his head this year too .but it won’t happen he’s no kipper

I’m not on a grammar site there thunder but anytime you want to dispute what I have to say ….. then say something relevant to the site or thread .your trolling skills are weak and minimum at best . Anytime you want to compare iq I’m game .grammar geek .com is the site your looking for my weak minded buddy ….nice try Brian I know that’s you ..lol tell your sister to stop leaving her___ in my ___

They have a GM that I could see doing it and not caring about pissing off other GMs. Also have a fair amount of cap space left open. While Edmonton has claimed to be prepared to match anything…it’s worth a shot. They lose nothing from the venture and potentially gain a piece they have no other clear means to acquire.

Flames were able to do these moves because of the prospect depth .ive never seen so many potential NHL prospects in the flames system ever !! Couldn’t even draft in the first couple rounds let alone grabbing a few late round studs is it trevling and the scouting or just luck that teams kept passing these guys up .nurse over monahan .pukejarvi over Tkachuk lol oooooops hey thx chiarell lo are you sure you don’t work for trevling lol jk

Yes; Oilers drafting with prime draft position has been horrendous.
After the first round it has been non existent. They suck!!!

In 2013 though, we drafted Monahan at #6 and the Oilers drafted Nurse at #7, the only year we drafted ahead of them in the decade.
Lock out year….
Having said that; if they drafted ahead of us they would probably have messed it up by picking Nurse ahead of Monahan anyway…..tools!!!!!!

I don’t understand what Marc Bergevin is doing there. They may be in a “win now” mode but their defense is a mess, very thin at center, Drai would definately help there, but they need so much more than someone like Drai. I applaud the work the Flames, Hurricanes, Dallas, and even Tampa have done this summer. I just don’t get the moves Montreal has made. I am afraid the fans in Montreal will be all over Alzner, and even Druoin, if the slump. Gosh help them if Price goes down. There just seems to no plan in place for the Habs.

ANd we liked russel just fine but we weren’t paying him 4 mill . The only problem with russel is he spends too much time defending gives up blue line easily and doesn’t really have great possession in offensive zone . And that’s when he was a. It younger .we got a good return for him .he wasn’t getting 4 mill though

Because of simple math. First, five years takes him straight to free agency, so if they get the player he has all of the power in the next negotiation, or worse, walks for nothing. Second, NHL offersheet money is averaged out over five years if they are any longer, so say if they offered him seven years, to keep the average under 9.8 over five years they would have to offer him less than that and the Oilers simply match. Any more and it’s 4 firsts. If they go less than five years then it’s pretty risk free for the Oilers to match again unless it’s a ridiculous number and they take the picks

Habs going nowhere next year. They got rid of subban #1pick for another little unproven guy. Radulov gone markov gone beauleau gone. They are really weak on backend and if u think price will duplicate what he did 2 years ago aint going to happen. Go leafs go

“Re-signed Carey Price to a 12-year contract extension with a $10.5 million cap hit.” Eight years is the maximum contract length allowed by the CBA, and that’s the actual length of Price’s new contract.

A lot of you need to brush up on your facts. The Habs easily won the Droun trade. Look at the progress he has made. What is stopping him from putting up 60+ points next year. The biggest problem is Price and Weber. Weber is way overpaid and Prices contract will kill the Habs in the future

Good point Josh, just a couple of flamer’s trying to get something going. Iam sure the Hab’s or any other team in the NHL would not pay that price for Drai. However the flames did give up a 1st and two 2nd’s for Hamonic LOL. I wonder who thinks they are in win now mode lol.

Englend lives in Las Vegas . They could have grabbed kulak or shinkaruk but flames were never in danger of losing a great asset like most teams did . No it’s not 2 2nd rounders but if or when flames finish high that 1rst will be more like a second and the second rounded will end up being closer to 3 Rd roundes then trevling will trade them back for more .

I thought I explained trevlings genius we get our assets back when we go to trade them once our adam fox is ready etc .assets flames are overflowing with real assets not draft picks but actual players ready for NHL . Jankowski .klimchuck . Lazar .foo. Mangiapane.dube.phillips poirier. Etc plus the defence prospects and goalie prospects lolol .assets is what Soilers are lacking who do you have benson Yamamoto and ohhh that’s right there is no and . Lol assets?

Sure we gave up picks we don’t even need with all our prospects and late round gems trevling drafted . But we have a two more top 4 defenceman with hamonic and stone and kept kulak who will likely make the team . And we can still trade them back for even more there young yet . But Soilers lost a first and second for nothing in rienhart and strome is no top 6 so a huge downgrade from eberle who will likely bounce back with taveras

That’s right flames added haminoc and stone and smith and foo .lol those picks will end up being later rounds. BECAUSE flames will finih in top 5 . Then flames will trade them back for even more assets (we will get a first rounder for stone and more assets for hamonic by that time flames elite defence prospects will replace them Adam fox . Klington .anderson .valamaki.kulak etc . If you want to talk about wasted picks let’s refer to rienhart a 1 rst and 2 bs rounder gone with nothing to show for it lolol .eberle trade.lolol hall trade .lolol russel signing lolololol tooooo easy

Forgive me, Hamonic is not worth a 1st and two 2nd’s. Re-signing Stone cost a pick and Stone might be better than Hamonic. Smith and Lack are a down grade of talent in net, if the flames have to use Foo this year in the NHL that should show you how desperate they are. Hall got Larson (upgrade), Eberle got Strome ( salary dump and chump dump). I have no idea what the hate on for Russell is? Do the flames have any player ranked at no.1 for anything besides Johnny Hoggy dives?

Hamilton could be in Norris conversation . Tkachuk was no.2 in Corsica/60 possession and that was his rookie season . Monahan name 10 centres to score over 100 goals his first 4 seasons? Tyler parsons probably the no.1 goalie prospect in NHL . Flames haven’t even started yet .watch and learn

Those are some ridiculous conclusions. Flames are good but not great and Hamilton is far a Norris trophy candidate. The Hamonic trade was a loss and the Flames still have brutal goaltending. I would bet the farm on Smith struggling next year. He has shades of Bryzgalov.

Reinhart for 1st and 2nd, got 0 to show for, love it. One of the worst farm systems in the NHL, nothing in the pipe. Yamo #2 prospect in oil system, would have hard time cracking top 10 on our prospect list.
Ebsy for Strome, excellent, keep going. Pennies on the dollar Hall, Ebsy, Yak a bust……. RNH trending….
If Stone is #7-8, that means Russell is #8-9 of course in your system he is #3 with Sekera gone.
You should worry about signing spear in the nuts Drysaddle, 8x$10 make it happen.
While you are at it get a #1 dman because you don’t have one.
Don’t worry about trying to extend Maroon, his family wouldn’t move to the dump you call Edmonton so he is a goner.

Hamonic was one of the most sought after defenceman for over a year .soilers wanted him and tried but he wanted to go to flames like foo and stone could have gotten more as ufa but wanted to stay as well . Your saying hamonic is not a huge upgrade to wideman and stone to englend . Foo 65 points and a hobey baker nomination.reminds me of Johnny a bit but he won the hobey baker had 80 points .not too far off and Foo looks like a possible top 6 player potential so I’d say win win win all summer long and now all seAson flames miss playoffs lolo I guarantee they will. E 1 rst in pacific this season edm will finish over15 points behind maybe in a wild card if there lucky

Carl, Hamonic is -26 with knee issues. Stone is an 7-8 D at best and now overpayed. I never compared Hamonic to Wideman or Egghead you did. flamers paid a 1st and two seconds and gave up a pick for re signing Stone and Hamonic for a bag of magic beans. Johnny Hoggy will be gone next year and Foo won’t stick. The flames will be sellers at the trade deadline with Burke pushing the buttons.

Flames didn’t give anymore than other teams were willing to give for hamonic.i just meant that our upgrades from wideman to hamonic is our addition and flames should be even better .besides there start flames were pretty good . Brodie also had an off year as far as a bad plus minus .so we are likely putting Brodie and hamonic together a. Imbibed -50 or something close lol do you honestly believe that they will repeat that as a second line pairing.? You gave up a first round and a second for rienhart how many games in NHL did he play for you was he on top 4 shutting down other teams top lines .islanders weren’t great last year lots of players with bad stats as a whole. And hamonic contract is under 4 mill for next 3 years that’s worth a pick don’t you think?

Stone has better stats than most of your defenceman he’s only 26 and will be better with Calgary as he’s already shown hmmmmmmmm went on a big win streak when we traded for him and haminoc now too lol .good luck mcdavid haminoc and stone were brought in for you lol smashy smash time .

Carl, your responses to lakid are too reasoned….. He is not interested in a discussion, his only goal is to make you angry.
He thinks that giving Hall for an average #2 dman is an uprgrade. Those guys used to worship Yak, Hall, Ebsy and now they were no good cancer. RNH is next on their hit list…
Coilers are a gift that keeps on giving. They got lucky last year on the back of Talbot, with that bottom 10 defense, they are in danger of missing the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years; the biggest suck in pro sports history; they are storied don’t you know that…..

Lol I know . Can’t help myself sometimes soiler fans be jealous even though they have Mcwaste he’s only 1 player and not worth two johnnys lol I don’t mind spelling it out for Kaid ,need to school some of these guys so they know what to exspect hate to burst the mcbubble

Carl, Carl, Carl, please get off the Theo Juice, it will only make you punchdrunk. The fact is the fleas defence is on the decline as it was last year. The Addition of Hamonic only proves the point ( a gamble at best). Stone will more than likely be better than Hamonic and those two cost the Fleas their future. The question you should be asking is what Burke is going to get for Johnny Hoggy and the Gio.

Oilers have plenty of high end players now in the fold , even defensively with the likes of Bear , Jones , Paigin , Mantha , etc. , not to mention some others already to fill in like Auvitu , Fayne and Simpson . Reinhart was going to stand little to no chance to play regularly for Oilers anyways – but a bad trade for him in first place . Lazar as a quality NHL is very questionable as most of us Oiler fans know , same for Pollock . Got as much chance of being an NHL player as Oilers hoping for Keegan Lowe to turn the corner . Better chance our Ty Rattie plays above Lazar and others on the Flames . New forwards coming in the mix like Puljujarvi , Benson , Yakamoto , Gamberdella and several others this year that Chia has reloaded in the AHL roster . Impressed with the new mix Chia has added to the Condors this year far more than what Flames have in Stockton . Beware of the new depth of the Oilers , it is impressive .

Cute, that’s why your prospects got rated #21 in the NHL, down two spots from the year before.
Once Pulju hopefully graduates to NHL, first time around was a comedy relief, that impressive crop of B/C prospects drops to something like #27. Yamo, hahaha please, not even top 10 in our system. Reinhart stood little chance to play for any team when you gave up 1st and 2nd for him, who made that call. A knee jerk reaction to losing out on Dougie, I guess we should thank Chia because without his offer sheet threat we could have never gotten him for next to nothing.

If Ty Rattie can play over anyone, it is a sad day for coilers. Lazar had 1G-2A-3Pts in 4 games with our team while recovering from Mono (no doubt must have spent some time in edmonton). Pollock is not even in top 20 of our prospects. Those great additions to your farm were discussed on HF, everyone had a great time laughing, rejects nobody wanted but since your farm was a junior suckville why not.
Hey, any of those great new dmen happen to be part of those 5 Giordanos that your fans brag about?

Show me there ahl stats atleast bear Yamamoto and who ever else what have they done . You traded your top ahl player and then lost your top ahl defenceman we will see out of benson Yamato vs Phillips and dube who makes the team and who makes an impact . I remember flames prospects with golds parsons and fox .dube . silver .and a bronze . .mcaroy is up in.boston Adam fox will be USA go to defenceman who I believe atleast 3 points in that gold medal game and they would not have beat canada if not for parsons who would be there no.1 this year too but was just barely too old . Not quite the same calibre . Adam fox college rookie of the year and is already considered the most dynamic offensive defenceman in his first year . What have your prospects acomplished ? Ours are mostly rookie of the years .anderson .phillips .jankowski .wheres your ahl studs show me the stats .mangiapne and jankowski were the only two rookie team mates in ahl to score 20 goals .

You want them to brush up on facts, but you aren’t using any. It’s entirely speculation that Drouin will put up 60+ points next year. He could, but that’s not a fact. That is a prediction. What could stop him? The same thing that stops anyone. Not putting the puck in the net enough or being healthy enough.

It’s not a bad trade for Montreal. They gain a top 6 forward with some very nice potential for someone that isn’t a guarantee. Although if Sergachev becomes what Montreal thought he’d be just last season, that’s not a clear win for them.

Yeah in a sense Tampa can rise back up to the top of the division without having to do much. They have a great group locked up and just need a healthier year in general. That is a good team.

Since there was no sign Ottawa could do what they did last year, there’s no telling what might happen this season. The kind of game they play can frustrate and create chances to win that you didn’t think were possible.

Hopefully Toronto just keeps moving forward this season. A huge jump last year and have made sure to take steps to try and get better. Should be fun to see what the young stars can do this coming season.

this roster and prospects in the system has the potential tobe the best team ever assembled in flames history . The next true dynasty .flames have the blueprints to how to rebuild a team .despite the lack of assets for iginla bouwmester etc .

we swept your asses too, 10 years of pounding and being warn like a hand puppet…., but nobody made a big deal out of it on account of it being oilers. Coiler fans out in force after one lucky season on the back of Talbot. Oiler regression in 2 months, watch them descend to their natural habitat position as perennial bottom feeder.

Well, we know that negotiating and deal making are not his strong points, not sure what is perhaps trading players for pennies on the dollar.
If I was an Oiler fan, and thank God I’m not, I wouldn’t worry about it, because there is the trinity of suck (Lowe/MacT/preparation H guy) to advise him, so, what could go wrong.

you should worry about pulju, man this guy sucked, must be a bust,…….
Bennett is learning to be a center, Drysaddle is riding cocktails of mickyD on the wing. In the Flames system Bennett has to earn the icetime, not like in dumpsville where the signs in bathrooms state – ‘you too could play with mickyD’.
So, how much for the Spears in the Nuts – Drysaddle, 8x$10? But seriously all kidding aside, is spear a natural coward or has he learned that from the master nut cracker, Lucic.

Oh man and who has Tksucks ? the most cowardly player in hockey except of course ( I’m trying out for the US diving team) Johnny will be swimming in the try outs in Philadephia if you would like to catch it.

After elbowing Doughty in the face, Tkachuk fought everyone who was willing. When Tkachuk wanted to fight Drysaddle, mickyD had to come to the rescue albeit from behind since he isn’t tough enough. Drysaddle has a record of being a chicken, nut spearing chicken but a chicken. If you are going to post something at least make an effort to get something right.

They didn’t force him, he went after them, you would have to watch the game to know that.
Still, Tkachuk draws more penalties than he takes, his 48 points and elite 2-way play were a joy to watch. Too bad that Pulju bust, cannot fight or do anything else, the new Yak in the making…

Not true, in the revenge game, Tkachuk dropped the gloves and LA player chickened out.
Tkachuk got 2 minute penalty, he will learn to pick his spots better. The next time on the ice there was a fight.
Ok, let’s give Pulju another half a season, just to make sure, …… I buy that…..
BTW. Thanks for picking him over Tkachuk.

I do want to make it clear, that the Tkachuk Elbow was purely accidental, not like when Kassian took the head of one of the little oiler guys, what’s his name…….. Bing just doesn’t do things like that. 🙂

I know you haven’t, back then I would have been fine with either one as well.
Now I’m glad we got Tkachuk for we need his type of skill set.
BTW. Have I whined even once about the golden ping pong ball or anything else for that matter?
I was kind of hoping to bait you with the Bing comment.

I am now dumber for reading all these Flames comments in the thread. Calgary will always be a second tier organization compared to Edmonton. Good thing you can beat teams like Vegas and Phoenix. Edmonton, San Jose, Anaheim will be playing at the big boy table.

Nothing changed you are as dumb as you were if you think your team is nothing more than gulag of NHL.
10 years of ineptitude, stupidity and tanking, the worst disaster in pro sports history. One good season on the back of Talbot and you think you are a cup contender. Talk about delusional.

your team is about to miss the playoffs for 11th time in 12 years, and you still joke around, I admire your positive attitude…….. Speaking of tank jobs, I will leave that to the experts like yourself and your coiler fans and your management of ineptitude. I’m sure you guys already miss the years of tanking and the draft parties thematically titled: suck for Yak, dishonor for Connor, fall for Hall, and whatever the tank job you did for RNH…….., you are a gift that keeps on giving. Don’t ever change sweetheart for you are storied like your third rate franchise…….

Come on punchdrunk forever, This how the division is – Edmonton #1, Anahiem #2 ( the team that owns the cowgirls). San Jose #3, Pheonix or anybody that isn’t a flame#4. #4 doesn’t matter because there won’t be a wildcard team in the Pacific Division. Who will win the power struggle, Treliving or Burke? I say Burke and he will get Goaltending at the expense of what they have in the prospect pool. Oh I forgot The NYI’s own that. Maybe the Flyers will give you a second round pick forJohnny hoggy? No I can read your mind a 3rd and take Brower.

Try to complete a coherent sentence for once in your life. Your constant obsession with hogs and stable sports is disturbing, you could get help for that, just a suggestion. If you would make statements that actually border on sanity then you could support your arguments, as is is just fools talk.
The only power struggle is between chia and the trinity of suck, and after coilers miss the playoffs again, Low will take over again for he likes the attention and loves getting credit.

Oh I am not joking around, The fleas have to be in the top 3 of the pacific and there “0” chance that will happen, would you agree with that? The wild cards belong to the Jet’s, who have better Goaltending, Better Offence by FAR!, and better Defence. STL. Better, CHI.Better, NSH. Better, Minn. Better, Dallas will be a contender this year, Better, Arizona will finish ahead of the fleas this year to boot. And that’s today and Tommorrow from Stable Sports ………..

You shouldn’t talk about defense, as you don’t have a clue what that is.
You think that Larsson is better than average #2 dman, hahaha.
How are the oilers going to make the playoffs with bottom 10 d in the NHL, even Talbot will not be able to save that gong show,……. dream on………..
While Flames/Ducks/Sharks fight for the top spot in the Pacific, Oilers will be planning draft party before December..

Actually, it wasn’t even a shot quote:
“I say Burke and he will get Goaltending at the expense of what they have in the prospect pool. Oh I forgot The NYI’s own that.”
Owns what? our goalies? If you talking about picks put it in there, because prospect and picks is not the same thing.
We gave up 1st, 2nd, 2nd, for Hamonic and 4th.
You gave up 1st, 2nd for Reinhart.
We got Hamonic you got nothing.